When the Big Debate Is Over Taxes, Progressives Have Lost

Ever since Governor Romney's comment about writing off the 47 percent of households who don't pay federal income tax became public, news stories and opinion pieces have been dominated by discussions of who does and does not pay taxes. This is great news for the one percent.

The obsession with taxes means that the one percent are playing a game that they can only win. The vast majority of the upward redistribution of income over the last three decades has been in before tax income. This has...